A call went in to the Alaska State Troopers at 10 am on Thursday reporting a burglary at the ANICA Store in Kivalina.

Troopers responded to the burglary aboard a chartered flight to the northwestern Alaska community. The burglary took place in the early morning hours of Thursday.

The initial trooper investigation into the burglary incident found that the thieves used a prybar or similar instrument to gain access to the interior of the store and that approximately $189,000 in cash was stolen. Approximately $5,000 in miscellaneous items had been stolen from the store as well. The cash was in a safe, it is not known at this time how the thieves accessed the safe.

The unduly large amount of cash at the store was in preparation for dividends which will reach Alaskans in the next week. Kivalina has no banks, and store managers expected to induce spending at the store using their check cashing abilities.

As troopers continued their investigation, they found that some of the store’s video surveillance equipment had been stolen and other portions damaged to the tune of $3,000 by the thieves in order to conceal their involvement.

The community’s only store was closed as the troopers continued their investigations. By Saturday, the troopers had gotten multiple tips as to the perpetrators of the Grand Larceny. The troopers returned to the community on Saturday with two individuals as suspects.

Two cousins, 18-year-old Brandon Swan and 19-year-old Robert Swan were placed under arrest for the crime. Much of the stolen loot was recovered as well. It had been placed in bags then buried or stashed in various places in the community. Only $172,000 of the stolen cash and $3,000 worth of the other items have been recovered so far.

The wherabouts of the remaining $17,000 and the rest of the missing items has not been released by the troopers. Troopers believe the two men acted alone, but others may know the whereabouts of the missing money and merchandise. More arrests may be in the offing. The investigation into the incident is continuing.

Brandon and Robert Swan were arrested and transported to the Kotzebue Jail and remanded there on charges of Burglary II, Theft I, Theft II, Criminal Mischief III, and Tampering with Physical Evidence.

The Kivalina Native Store is owned by the Alaska Native Industries Association., or ANICA, INC. ANICA was formed by village leaders of northwest Alaska in 1948 to supply villages with goods independant from BIA.

Kivalina is a community of approximately 386 people located on the tip of an eight-mile-long barrier reef located between the Chukchi Sea and the Kivalina River. It is approximately 80 miles northwest of Kotzebue.